First, of all, there is no Front End vs Back End. Why? Compare a glass with a plate. What is better? ‘Nonsense!’, you’ll say. People eat from plates and from glasses they drink. Different use! Is there really a need to compare things that are different in functionality? We should better ask which cup is better: 0.5 or 1 liter. (P.S. Perhaps 1 because this way you can drink more coffee without the need to refill. Our devs said so, at least) So there is no VS and no battle. There are Front End & Back End devs, working together and complementing each other. Let’s get to the grips of what is the difference between these two professions and why each of them is so precious in the world of IT.
Front End – the power of looks.
You first judge a website by its looks. If it has an appealing design and convenient navigation, it means that the owners cared enough to invest money in its development. Unconsciously, you think the info on the well-designed website is reliable. You want to buy things in the user-friendly stores. You want to share the articles from the good-looking blog.
If you come across such a website, it means that it has a good team of Front End developers. It is their responsibility to create a visual part of the web app. Everything you can see, click, watch and listen – Front End. Everything you can tap, scroll and move – also Front End. The main coding languages they use are HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. For successful development, the knowledge of them should be at least advanced. Then it is a good thing to include the usage of JS frameworks and libraries like Angular, Vue and React.
What do Front End Devs do, exactly?
- convert the designers’ solutions into JS code;
- add to the web app everything the user can interact with: icons, buttons, images, videos, navigations, animations, and music;
- create reusable UI components to minimize the code writing;
- build forms and inputs;
- include UX strategies, like PWA (the technology for mobile-friendly and offline-working app).
However, no matter how good the Front-ender is, nothing works without the Back-End developer.
Back End, the power of functions
No matter how striking the pallete and logical the navigation, you’ll leave the website that responds slowly and incorrectly. Here is where the Back End devs come in. Their main responsibility is managing the server and data. Basically, without it the website just will not function. Back-enders build the technologies and components that enable user-interface to actually exist.
Comparing the website building to the movie production, Front End devs are actors – the ones you see and acknowledge. Back Enders are producers, directors, and screenwriters. Basically, they are the core of the website.
What do Back End Devs do, exactly?
- manage server-side business logic, like user-authentification
- create automatic notifications
- control data validation, storage, and fetching
- schedule processes
During my first week at SapientPro, I also thought that there is some grand competition between Front End and Back End. Later, I understood that there are different kinds of battles: Angular vs React, Android vs iOS (this one especially topical), Coffee vs Tea even. However, no battle among Front End and Back End Developers. These are the two necessary parts of one big process.